


Year One: The Chill in the Air

by chromahex



Series: Dust to Gold [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Hogwarts Mystery
Genre: F/F, Gen, characters added as the story goes on, relationships added later because theyre like eleven here but crushes still happen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2019-12-10
Packaged: 2020-09-26 07:08:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 18,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20385703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chromahex/pseuds/chromahex
Summary: Evie Salazar, a quiet and sullen girl stuck in the shadow of her infamous brother, Jacob Salazar, starts her first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She finds herself unwillingly following in his footsteps, searching for the mythical Cursed Vaults he had become obsessed with - before he was expelled and then vanished. Burdened by the disappearance of her parents and her brother, and the mysterious marks on her wrists, Evie must face the path Jacob laid out and uncover the mystery of the Cursed Vaults, and seek out a semblance of truth.





	1. Legacy

**Author's Note:**

> A sort-of rewrite, slightly canon divergent story of Hogwarts Mystery. I haven't done anything as serious as fanfic writing in ages, so bear with me as I try piecing this together. Mostly follows the storyline of the game, but will definitely have added/modified scenes as well! 
> 
> Begins at year one at Hogwarts, and will lead up to the last year.

The moment the Sorting Hat was placed on her head, Evie was immediately plagued with dread.

She sat rigid, hands clutching the sides of the stool placed in the front of the Great Hall, and she was painfully aware of the hundreds of eyes on her, burning holes into her skin, judging, waiting. The moment her name had been announced, she began to hear the whispers again, the words "Jacob" and "Vaults" and "mad" floating around. She hadn't heard her brother's name in quite some time, and it was almost a blessing, really. But her enrollment into Hogwarts brought his name back onto people's lips.

A memory bubbled to the surface, suddenly, and she did her best to keep her expression still.

"Let's see now, hm?" The Sorting Hat said as it settled on top of her head, its voice deep, scratchy and vibrating in her ears. Evie didn't answer, thinking of the first time she had heard Jacob's name just days ago, after years of pretending his name didn't exist.

_Venturing into Ollivanders in itself was wonderful, Evie remembered thinking. The girl she had just become acquainted with had gushed about the experience, having already bought her wand. Rowan Khanna, she introduced herself as, and had left Evie to shop for her school supplies as she went off to purchase something for herself. Khanna had left quite the impression about the shop, and Evie took in the sight of the small, haphazardly put together, small but comfortable shop, walls stacked and lined with countless wands, too many to count, so many waiting for their witch or wizard. She was eager, so to speak. This was the moment everyone waited for, and she was finally living through it, so unable to contain herself, Evie stepped forward, only to step back, caught off guard by the sudden appearance of Ollivander himself, walking into the main area from what seemed to be a back room._

_For a brief moment, he stared at her silently, then began walking towards her, his eyes assessing. Evie stared back, until a small smile broke the tension, and Ollivander gestured at her. _

_"You bear a great resemblance to your dear brother, Miss Salazar," he greeted, his eyes wide, "has it already come the time you get your first wand? It feels as if it were only a few months your brother was here… instead, it has been nearly ten years. How time flies." Evie didn't answer, but it seemed Ollivander didn't expect a reply, turning before continuing._

_"Let's begin, shall we?" He began the process of measuring Evie's wand arm, and she merely stood in silence as the measuring tape did its work._

_He hummed and glided towards a wall, thin fingers already shifting through the many boxes. He moved expertly, muttering quietly to himself as he searched, and Evie wondered how he even knew where to begin. She didn't ask, content enough watching him work. It was fascinating, really. The many wands sold here, the finest wand shop in Britain, the countless of witches and wizards who had bonded with their first wand from here. _

_Like Jacob. _

_On cue, Ollivander's whispy voice brought Evie's attention to him again._

_"Your brother's wand is aspen, dragon heartstring, springy, and ten inches. I wonder if dragon heartstring suits you, as well?" He was in front of Evie now, holding out a box. Evie considered it a moment, then spoke._

_"Was," she said, taking the box and opening it. The wand sat there, mocking, perfect and whole. Another reminder of what was missing. An image floated into her mind: a familiar dragon heartstring wand, split in two, the aspen wood poking out in splinters. The wand, of course, was never found. "It was dragon heartstring, I mean. Aspen, springy, like you said. They snapped that wand in half after he was expelled." _

_"A shame," Ollivander offered, silver eyes wide._

_It was. The wand in Evie's hand set fire the stack of boxes at the edge of Ollivander's desk. Mouth a firm line, she placed the wand back inside its back gingerly, offering it back to Ollivander. _

_"Guess that's a no," she said._

_"No," he agreed. "Definitely no, but the possibilities are endless." Ollivander replied, taking the wand back. He spent a few more seconds searching, murmuring to himself, and eventually was soon holding out another wand for Evie to try. _

_It rejected her, flinging itself harshly from her grip, lodging itself into the wall. Ollivander looked at it, then clicked his tongue. _

_"Something else," he said, before taking off to the shelves again._

_The next wand was soon handed to her, and Evie studied it._

_"Dragon heartstring?" She asked, taking it, trying not to think of Jacob, tried not to think of how she didn't want the same wand as him, tried not to think that, at the same time, she did. She'd take anything, anything but dragon heartstring. At the thought, she flushed a bit in shame. Had Ollivander been handing her nothing but dragon heartstring wands?_

_Ollivander shook his head slightly. "Ash wood, unicorn hair, flexible, eleven inches. Give it a try." _

_Evie didn't question it, nodded once, and pulled the wand from its confines._

_The wand instilled a feeling of warmth, belonging and comforting, and Evie knew it had chosen her the moment her fingers wrapped around its handle. She gripped it tightly, and couldn't help the small smile that pulled at her lips, relief and happiness. A unicorn was far from a dragon, and that was enough for now._

_She looked up to see Ollivander looking at her thoughtfully. Feeling almost defensive, she schooled her face back into neutrality, and she met his gaze steadily, almost challengingly. He tapped a finger to his chin, an unreadable look to his wild, seemingly unfocused eyes. Evie thought it was rather unsettling, feeling small and scrutinized under his stare. _

_"I am deeply sorry about the disappearance of your brother," he began, and Evie stiffened, the joy of the wand bonding faded quickly. She averted her eyes down to the wand, feigning interest in it. _

_Ollivander was still talking. _

_"He showed great potential, a powerful young wizard with a powerful wand. I remember the way his eyes lit up when the wand chose him, and I remember what he said right after, too. About you."_

_"What?" The word was out of Evie's mouth before she could stop it. She lifted her head, suddenly intrigued. Jacob had never mentioned this before._

_"He had asked if it were possible for siblings to have twin wands," Ollivander mused, chuckling slightly, shaking his head, almost fondly. "I said no, of course, twin wands are a rare case. Wand cores are never identical, you see. However, your brother insisted you would be the exception, that both of you would be strong together, dragon heartstring wands in hand." He waved a hand at the wand in Evie's grasp. "If you do not mind my asking… how have you fared since his disappearance?" _

_Evie thought about how everyone spoke about Jacob as if he was dead, his name brought up in whispers, sad and sympathetic, until the whispers turned into rumors, and people's tones began taking that of suspicion. Quick whispers about Jacob having gone mad, obsessive and a lunatic, driven by dark magic in search of something that wasn't there, and disappeared in his lunacy. Death Eater, she heard, and she realized she hated him for leaving in such a mysterious way, hated him for leaving her, hated him for leaving her to deal with the aftermath of his actions. _

_The Prophet had covered his story, covered their past, highlighting the fact that both her parents and brother had vanished. Although people did their best to hide it from her, Evie found herself staring down at the pages, at a photo of Jacob, smiling and carefree, a photo of her parents, and couldn't even read through the first paragraph of the story, before dumping the paper into the fire._

_"I was angry," she said, and elaborated no further._

_“If I recall… Both your parents had dragon heartstring wands. Perhaps your brother thought it poetic if both of you were to have wands with the same core as them.”_

_“Maybe. I don’t know.”_

_His thin fingers pointed at her wand. Evie wondered how such thin, bony fingers did not tremble. "While it is common knowledge that the wand chooses the wizard, you have the choice in accepting its bond to you, as well."_

_Cryptic. So cryptic. Evie nodded stiffly, and Ollivander took the hint. The conversation was over. "Thank you for the wand, Mr. Ollivander. I'll be going now, my uncle is waiting," she said, feeling small._

_Ollivander looked as if he wanted to say more, but said nothing else as Evie paid for her purchase. Then, as she was walking out the door, he called out, "I said you resemble your brother a great deal, but you are very different, indeed. Remember, there's always a choice. Take care, Miss Salazar." _

A choice, she thought, suddenly thrust back into the present, and thought desperately of blue and bronze, banishing gold and warmth from her mind.

"Blue and bronze? Is Ravenclaw the House you desire?" The Hat said, and Evie stared ahead of her. Looking onto the mass of students, waiting for the Hat's announcement. What could Jacob's sister be? "You could be yet another fantastic Salazar Hufflepuff - "

"No."

"No?" The Hat's voice turned curious, "Ravenclaw would surely hinder you, and Hufflepuff would the most beneficial path to you, as with your brother…"

Evie grit her teeth. No. Not after she had waited for so long to attend this school, just to be sorted into the most idealistic House, _Jacob's_ House. What kind of choice was this? Perhaps Ollivander was the one who was mad, going on about choices. She glared at nothing, and the Hat hummed.

It wasn't fair.

The Hat gave a throaty laugh. "You are not the first to be disappointed. I told your brother this, the very same words: your House makes you, just as you make the House."

Stupid hat, Evie thought.

"Hufflepuff!" The Hat roared, without a second thought, and the Hall cheered politely.

The rest of the evening passed slowly. With most of the excitement dying down from the Sorting, the first-years still whispering excitedly to their new Housemates, it had quieted down significantly as Dumbledore took the stage, and began his speech. It was a rather common speech, and Evie didn't pay much attention to it, merely gazing around, taking in the scenery. In her apprehension, she hadn’t gotten the chance to marvel at her surroundings.

She also tried not to think much about how people were staring at her, whispering, and how they immediately clamped their mouths shut and pressed their lips together tightly, heads swiveling back to the Headmaster stiffly, averting their eyes as Evie caught sight of them. She frowned.

A group of Gryffindors were whispering behind the Hufflepuff table loudly, that even the Hufflepuff prefect, Jane Court, shot them a look.

"That bloke who went mad? Salazar? He was all over _The Daily Prophet_! His little sister got sorted into Hufflepuff - same as him!" a girl's voice chimed.

There was a scoff. "Bet you five Galleons she'll be exactly the same as him. Already in the same House, and what next?"

"Reckon she'll go looking for those Vaults Salazar went mad over too? My older sister was in one of Salazar's classes, said he was sensible for a while… brilliant, even! I mean, before he started going on and on about whatever nonsense was rotting his brain."

"My brother said that too! Maybe it's only a matter of time-"

"Enough of that!" Evie heard the Gryffindor prefect hiss, "pay attention before I give you gossips a reason to talk in detention!"

Evie resumed looking around the vast hall. She eventually recognized a few of the first years that had been sorted along with her. Ben Copper, a nervous boy, eyes looking everywhere but at his Housemates, was seated at the Gryffindor table. He looked absolutely terrified. Andre Egwu, who had previously complimented Evie on her hair before entering the Great Hall, was adjusting his flashy scarf at the Ravenclaw table, oblivious to the speech. Penny Haywood, a pretty girl with light hair and eyes, an aura of friendliness radiating off her, was at Evie's table. Evie had guessed she would be Hufflepuff, no doubt, and the Hat proved her right. Of course, Rowan Khanna, the girl who she had met in Diagon Alley, was also sorted into Hufflepuff. She was sitting next to Evie, and was intently paying attention to Dumbledore's words. She was a hatstall, Evie recalled, and the Hat had sat on her head for a good while and she had watched as Rowan's face went from excited to nervous, and she appeared deep in thought. Then, the Hat declared her as "Hufflepuff!" and a wide grin broke onto her face, her eyes meeting Evie's.

After Rowan's turn, a mischievous looking girl named Tulip Karasu was sorted into Ravenclaw, then it had been Barnaby Lee, a nice looking boy who had all but sauntered up to the stage, an easy grin on his face, and the Hat shouted, "Slytherin!"

Nymphadora Tonks, who scowled at her first name, hair blazing red before settling to pink, sorted into Hufflepuff. Merula Snyde, who sat smug on the stool, Slytherin. Liz Tuttle, peering into the Hall behind her large spectacles, Slytherin. Talbott Winger, his intense eyes staring straight ahead, Ravenclaw.

Winger caught Evie's stare as her eyes settled on him, and he stared back, before looking away. He did not look particularly happy, but didn't look like he was talking about her, in fact, he wasn't talking at all. She left it at that, and promptly pushed it to the back of her mind.

Dumbledore was finishing up his speech, gave a warning that the Forbidden Forest was off-limits, and then bid the students a warm welcome, advised everyone to try the delicious pudding, and the feast began.

\---

Focusing on classes helped take Evie's mind off the rumors. She spent a good time away from everyone, her nose always in a book, digging into her pile of new textbooks. Earlier, she had gotten a letter from her uncle, who she was living with, congratulating her on her sorting into Hufflepuff. How he knew, she had no idea, but she imagined he must have an acquaintance in the staff, keeping an eye on her. It wouldn't be impossible, he was an Auror. If she recalled, he had been sorted into Slytherin himself, but his sister, her mother, had been sorted into Hufflepuff. She quickly banished the thought of her mother, and replied to her uncle, and carefully hid her disappointment in her letter about her Sorting. It was easy to ignore her Sorting after, and looking at her class timetable, she figured she would easily be able to distract herself by the look of how busy it was.

She also had Rowan, Rowan Khanna, as a fast growing friend. The bookish girl hung around Evie, eager and excited.

"Everyone talks about you, you know," Rowan said one day, as they were leaving the Charms classroom. It has been an interesting experience, especially with Flitwick immediately singling Evie out, warning her about keeping in line. That would be easy, she assured him, and he seemed satisfied.

Giving Rowan a questioning glance at her sudden remark, Evie raised an eyebrow.

"It's true! You're like a celebrity. They keep mentioning - " Rowan stopped, then looked a bit sheepish. "Sorry. It must be a touchy subject…"

Evie shrugged, and walked forward, and Rowan bounded behind her, on her heel. "My brother? Not really," she said, after a beat. "I'm used to it. It's not like I'm deaf." And it was true. She didn't really mind the rumors and chatter. She ignored it, it was all senseless dribble anyway, calling her mad, calling Jacob mad. Mindless gossip.

"Well, yeah, but I imagine it's still rough. They ran the story through _The Daily Prophet_ \- everyone's read that, you know. Everyone knows, and that's all they talked about, even more now that you're here at the school too." Rowan leaned forward, eyes glistening behind her glasses in interest. "People keep saying you'll soon be looking for the Vaults too, the ones your brother was looking for."

Evie expected that, nodding slowly. Her uncle had warned her about the way people would talk when she got the school before she had departed. He had warned her since Jacob first disappeared, and she hadn't really understood then, until she got older, listened a bit more carefully, and found that sometimes things were better if you pretended you hadn't heard anything. People liked it better when you feigned ignorance, instead of challenging them and adding more reason to be compared to your supposed mental brother. More reason to make people believe you would end up just like him, obsessed and slowly driven insane.

Since then, Evie had practically memorized her uncle's words. Don't listen to them, he had said, it'll soon fade, and people will forget. She tilted her head at Rowan.

"You think I will?" she asked, a bit nervously. She didn’t want to scare away the first friend she’s made.

Rowan drew back. "N-No. That's besides the point, anyway! I'm only bringing that up to say: I'm glad I managed to make friends with someone interesting and as weird as me. People talk about me too, calling me weird." She suddenly looked down, running a finger across the spine of the book in her arms. "I read too much, and the tree farm my family owns… well, I preferred staying inside. People don't like it."

"You're interesting, Rowan, in a good way. I'm glad you're my friend, too." Evie smiled at her. Reading was one thing they both had in common, and getting along with her had been so easy, almost like breathing. It was nice, and definitely a welcome change. She had never been one for making friends, it was… difficult, given her circumstances. Rowan didn't seem to mind though, and she did genuinely seem happy about their newfound friendship, and that gave her a comforting, warm feeling.

Rowan beamed at her words, and Evie let Rowan lead the way. The bespectacled girl switched the subject and began filling in her friend on what to expect of the Potions class.

"Oh," Evie said, as they entered the dungeons, patting her side, cutting Rowan off. She frowned slightly. "I forgot my bag in Charms…"

"Go get it then!" Rowan gave her a slight push, "I'll go into Potions, save you a seat. Hurry back!"

Evie nodded and made her way back to Charms class, running, pushing past straggling students. Breathless, she burst into the classroom and quickly scanned the room, then managed to spot her bag on the floor. Honestly, how could she have forgotten it?

“Oh, um… ” A voice piped up, and she realized someone had been standing next to her bag, and she glanced up.

It was the timid Gryffindor, Ben Copper. The moment their eyes locked he immediately looked down, and stammered.

“I - you left your bag here, so I was looking after it,” he began to say, and Evie slung her bag’s strap across her shoulder. He seemed like all he wanted to do was bolt, and Evie quirked an eyebrow at him, prompting him to continue. He blinked rapidly.

“Yes, well, anyway, I was hoping you’d come back. I wasn’t sure what to do if you didn’t, so, I’m glad you did. Come back, I mean. I didn’t want to stand here and miss my next class… I thought I’d ask Professor Flitwick to attend to your bag and make sure you get it back, but he left swearing he’d be back shortly. I would’ve picked it up, but I didn’t want anyone to think I was stealing it. I didn’t look in your stuff, don’t worry. Um, ” Ben trailed off then, and Evie realized he was waiting for something. A thank you, most likely.

“Thanks,” she said, “you didn’t have to.”

“I know,” Ben muttered, then tensed. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t introduce myself.” Belatedly, he stuck his hand out, rather mechanically, Evie thought. “I’m Ben. Copper.” This entire interaction seemed painful to Ben.

Taking pity on him, Evie tried giving him a reassuring smile, and took his hand gently. “Evie Salazar. It’s nice to meet you, and thanks for taking the time to make sure nothing happened to my stuff.”

Ben smiled back, a tinge of anxiety still lingering but he looked less uneasy. “It’s no problem.” Then he pulled away, and gestured to the exit. “I’ll… see you later? I have to go to my next class, um, I’ll make it if I run.”

They exchanged a short goodbye and Evie was off to where she had left Rowan.

Evie stopped in her tracks as soon as she realized Rowan was not alone, and seemed to be in a conversation with someone.

"I can't just say that," Evie heard Rowan mutter, rubbing her thumb across the edge of her robe's sleeve. She looked a bit uncomfortable, eyebrows drawn into each other with uncertainty as she spoke to the girl in front of her. "I mean… it's not logically sound - there's plenty of other people in this school and we're just first years so - "

"Oh, you're being ridiculous," the girl in front of her said, exasperated. She rolled her eyes, crossed her arms, and held her head high, eyes shooting Rowan an arrogant look. "I'm obviously _nothing_ like you. Logically," she attempted to mimic Rowan's voice, and Rowan winced, "since I come from a pureblood family, and naturally, Slytherin is the best House in Hogwarts. It’s alright, you can just admit it, I might just forgive you and not hex you."

Evie decided to intervene. She didn’t like the sound of anyone hexing anyone.

"What's going on?" she asked, looking at Rowan, who immediately perked up. But it wasn't Rowan who replied, it was the girl.

"Finally," she said, her voice adopting a much less callous tone, "has someone sensible actually shown up? Please tell your painfully misinformed housemate she has her facts entirely wrong, I easily place on top for the best of our year - of all the years.”

She wasn’t serious, was she? Evie stared at her, and after a beat, a name came to her mind. Merula Snyde, a first year Slytherin she had seen at the Sorting. She seemed awfully sure of herself, not a trace of doubt on her features, her nose in the air.

Slowly, Evie said, “er, well,” and Merula’s violet eyes snapped to her, “I’m sure you could be the best of our year… but we are just first years, like Rowan said.”

Merula looked offended. “Excuse me?” she said stiffly, “could be? I am! Are you as much as a dolt as Khanna here?”

“No. Rowan isn’t either.”

“You sure _sounded_ like it.” Ignoring Evie’s mention of Rowan, Merula’s voice has turned into a slight sneer. Then she seemed to remember something. Her eyes scanned Evie, as if she was just now taking a real look at her, noticing her presence.

Pulling back, she wrinkled her nose.

“Hold on. No - you can’t be, can you? Yes, you can, I remember now, seeing you the first night!” Merula was talking quickly now, and Evie opened her mouth to speak, but Merula gave her no time to talk, her words tumbling out of her mouth.

“You’re that Evie Salazar - “ she pointed a finger rather accusingly at Evie, “I heard all about your lunatic of a brother! Disgraced his house, got expelled, went missing just like your parents - oh, this is awful - well, more for you, isn’t it?” Merula laughed. “Stuck in Hufflepuff too! I bet you’re a mess over all of this.”

“That’s uncalled for,” Rowan spoke up, defensively.

“Shut up, wasn’t talking to you.”

Evie gave Merula a levelled look. “Suppose I am that Evie Salazar. What of it?”

“Don’t look so cross,” Merula chided. She was entirely ignoring Rowan now, even having turned her back to her, facing Evie. Her lips were pulled into a smirk.

“Hm. You’re interesting, I’ll give you that. Not a total lost cause like Khanna; suppose I can give you the time of day - you’re welcome, in advance.”

“Who are you, even?” Rowan asked irritably from behind Merula.

Merula rolled her eyes, but didn’t look at Rowan as she replied, “Merula Snyde. Best remember it, Khanna, I’m not going to tell you again.”

“I wasn’t expecting you to,” Rowan sniffed.

“Anyway,” Merula fixed Evie with a look, then shot her a grin. She started making her way into the Potions classroom, where Professor Snape had started to come over to scold them, a sour look on his face. “See you around, Salazar.”

“Hm.” Evie didn’t know how to feel about all of this.

Rowan exchanged a pained look with Evie, and sighed, “well, that was something. Let’s just go in before Professor Snape gets over here and takes away any points - thanks for being here, by the way. I couldn’t have handled it myself. She was… scary.”

“It’s no problem. Hopefully there isn’t anymore trouble,” Evie said, and Professor Snape cleared his throat, glowering at them dangerously as they walked in and took their seats.

“Hopefully,” Rowan echoed, looking rather unsure of it.


	2. Trouble Afoot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, I'm back with an update! Classes have started up so I'm not too sure how slow these updates will be churned out, but I'll do my best to keep up! At the moment, I'm looking at an update every 2-3 weeks or so, and at the rate I'm going, I imagine the first year of this series will be at the very least 5 chapter or at the most, 8! We'll see how I do, so once again, please bear with me! Anyway, here's the next chapter! :)

Evie had spoken too soon.

The entire Potions class had been a rather dangerous dance of avoiding Merula. It was obvious Snape favored Merula, and that only bolstered her ego.

A couple of times, Evie would find ingredients missing, ingredients replaced, and Merula peeking into Evie’s cauldron, only to draw back and pretend she hadn’t looked at all. Evie wasn’t all that pleased when she first discovered Merula was grouped withherself and Rowan, seated at the same table, but so far the girl had done nothing, and had even tried joking around with Evie until the jokes had become too mean-spirited and Evie had pretended she was too focused to listen. When playing friendly with Evie fell short, Merula focused on the next available person to interact with, and easily tossed insults Rowan's way, going as far to even try tripping the girl up whenever she stood, feigning innocence when Rowan glared daggers at her.

“Think Professor Snape seated us together as punishment?” Rowan whispered while Merula was off searching for an ingredient.

"I wouldn't put it past him," Evie muttered, skimming the Potions textbooks for the next step. They were brewing a simple Cure for Boils potion, and so far, no mistakes had been made. That couldn't be said for some of the students, who were struggling to make sense of the new information, and many looked absolutely defeated. What’s more, plenty of the Slytherins had taken notice of Snape’s slight lack of hostility towards them, and had taken advantage of his favoritism, unafraid to ask him questions, but many of the Hufflepuffs looked like they’d stared death straight in the eyes whenever Snape came around to inspect their potions.

“I did a lot of reading, thankfully, about potions and the ingredients used!” Rowan said happily, patting the textbook next to her. She expertly sprinkled in Flobberworm mucus, and quickly began stirring with all her might. Evie smiled at that, impressed, then handed her a small pile of powdered ginger root for the next step, and turned to her own potion. Merula came back to her seat, gingerly placing porcupine quills next to a small bottle at the foot of her cauldron, and scowled at their progress.

By the end of the class, after miraculously dodging Merula the entire time, Evie’s potion had come out perfectly. She watched as Snape peered into her cauldron, narrowed his eyes as he took it in, then gave a grunt.

“Seems you are not entirely as useless at Potions as your irksome brother,” was all he bit out, sounding less than pleased, before taking a look at Rowan’s potion.

As if on cue, the contents of Rowan’s potion began to simmer and bubble, rising and rising, enough so that Snape himself leaned back and gave Rowan a glare before snapping, “get back!”

She scrambled to her feet and both Merula and Evie followed suit, quickly grabbing her books and Rowan’s before they could be soiled. The potion threatened to bubble over but never reached the point, promptly exploding all over the table. Green liquid pooled at the surface of the table and shouts of shock filled the room as students turned their attention to the noise, and Rowan was in the middle of it, face flushing, looking bewildered, her eyes wide behind her glasses.

“I - that’s - no, but I followed all the instructions perfectly,” she stammered, unable to look Snape in the eye as his lips curled unpleasantly.

“Apparently not,” Snape snarled, and pulled out his wand.

“_ Evanesco _ ,” he said, giving his wand a curt wave, and the bubbling liquid disappeared, followed by a “ _ Reparo _”, the cauldron pieced itself back together into its original shape, without a scratch. “Useless,” he grumbled, looking absolutely murderous, and Rowan shrank against the wall.

Beside Evie, Merula snickered, “Khanna made a Cure for Boils alright - for the table.”

Evie ignored that, but as she turned her attention to Rowan, her eyes swept across the table, and landed on the small bottle next to Merula’s cauldron. Hesitating only for a moment, she spoke up.

“Professor,” said Evie, "the Bulbadox powder next to Merula's cauldron, I think it somehow got into Rowan's potion."

Merula squawked indignantly. "What? Hey, Salazar, take a _ joke _ -"

A frown settled on Snape's features and his eyes flickered to the bottle quickly, before he narrowed them at Evie. "Are you insinuating that Snyde sabotaged Khanna's potion?" His voice was terrifyingly challenging. He was trying to intimidate her, and she wouldn't let him. Standing a bit taller, she raised her head.

"That’s _ exactly _ what I’m saying - " Evie said sharply, glaring darkly, and before Snape could respond, Rowan cut in, the situation sinking in at last.

"_ What?" _Rowan looked furious, just about ready to lunge at Merula, but Snape's presence next to her reminded her of restraint, so she merely stood still, but her fingers had curled into fists. "Snyde - you -!"

"_ Enough!" _ Snape's voice filled the classroom, and the little whispering that had been going on with the rest of the students subsided immediately. He glared down at both Rowan and Merula, the latter doing her best to look innocent. She had elbowed Evie seconds earlier, looking slightly hurt, mumbling "killjoy", and Evie had frowned at her. "Ten points will be taken from Hufflepuff, and five from Slytherin - _ shut your mouth Snyde before I take more _\- and you -" he addressed Evie, "I expect you to warn Khanna next time, you’re lucky I don’t take points for your tongue."

"I -" Evie was about to snap back, but stopped, gritting her teeth. It was useless to try to argue with Snape, but it was entirely unfair, seeing as he hardly even reprimanded Merula. She met his glare unflinchingly, swallowing her words. "Fine."

"See to it that you do." Snape growled.

-

"Oh, I swear once I learn the Bat-Bogey hex, that Merula Snyde will be the first person I try it on!" growled Rowan angrily as they were leaving the Potions classroom. Merula had already left, shooting past Evie and Rowan as soon as Snape dismissed them, her robes billowing behind her. Evie guessed she hadn't expected Evie to snitch on her, or expected her plan to backfire, having lost Slytherin five points. No doubt the Slytherins were unhappy about that. They had tossed the Hufflepuffs and Merula icy, accusing glares for the rest of the class, and Evie, for one, was grateful to be out.

When classes had wrapped up for the day, they had returned to the common room to rest, but Rowan hadn’t been let off the hook, Jane Court chewing her out and reprimanding her for losing Hufflepuff points. This left Rowan feeling especially glum after that. She kept to herself, and was less enthusiastic about her studies, and the times she did work, she did it in silence, sullen. Evie did her best to cheer Rowan up, bringing her snacks and books she thought Rowan would like, but when that didn't work, she decided to at least keep her company instead, if that's what she wanted. Days later, Evie had managed to convince Rowan to do some studying in the Courtyard, figuring some fresh air would be good. Rowan had a book opened in front of her, but Evie could tell she wasn't into it.

"Still mad?" Evie asked, looking down at her own book. It was _ Hogwarts: A History _. Professor Binn’s lessons were terribly dull, but she wasn’t about to let that stop her from reading the book. The history was fascinating, at least.

"No," Rowan said, but her tone said otherwise. She closed her book. "Okay, yes. I'm just mad I couldn't tell she had coated my cauldron with the powder, even after all my preparation. It slipped my notice, and maybe, if I had double-checked everything, I could have prevented being so embarrassed!" Rowan buried her head in her hands in exasperation.

"It's not your fault," Evie reassured, frowning a bit, "you couldn't have known she'd do that. Don't be so hard on yourself."

"Snyde was nice enough to you, though. Well, if you can call that nice," she mumbled.

Evie grimaced at that. "I guess. It's a bit weird, like a snake trying to warm up to you."

"Do you think she's trying to be your friend?"

Her friend? Evie looked up from her book, taken aback. It was possible, but she couldn't particularly see Merula Snyde thinking of her as her friend, perhaps as a partner of associate instead, considering what she had said to her before Potions. She seemed arrogant and prejudiced, had insulted both Evie and Rowan, while declaring she found Evie "interesting" in just a single encounter. Evie did try to ignore the manner how Merula had brought up her brother, but the words still stuck, and she could admit it had stung a bit. Besides that, seeing how they had only recently met, Evie wasn't fond of how she had antagonized Rowan.

"That would be something," Evie mused, shaking her head slightly.

"It certainly would be!"

To the side, approaching them, a blonde Hufflepuff girl smiled as Evie and Rowan turned to face her. Evie heard Rowan snap her book shut and she leapt to her feet.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to suddenly barge into your conversation like that," the girl said sheepishly. "I just couldn't help overhearing… you mentioned Merula Snyde wanting you as a friend?"

"Not necessarily," Evie said slowly, regretting her words, "it was just a thought."

"I definitely don't want her as a friend," Rowan snorted, crossing her arms. Over her initial shock at the girl's arrival, she sat back down, looking a bit forlorn again, Evie noted.

"That's the general consensus it seems," the girl laughed. "Oh, let me introduce myself. I'm Penny Haywood." Evie was just about follow her example when Penny held up a hand. "No need; I know who you are, Evie Salazar."

She looked at Rowan. "And you, Rowan Khanna. Heard you had points taken from Hufflepuff -" Rowan groaned. "- Which is why I've come here but first," she said, "tell me, Evie, have you noticed anything strange around here?"

"Strange?" Rowan echoed, and craned her head, taking a look around the Courtyard, and Evie did the same. That's when Evie noticed it. It was quiet, too quiet for a courtyard, and the air felt as it had in the Great Hall, the night of the Sorting. There was quick movement of people's heads, having already turned away as Evie surveyed the area, but she didn't miss the movement, and voices were low and quick. It was a repeat of the night of the Sorting, the same judging eyes, judging whispers and cold, mocking voices. A flash of anger washed over her, and she forced it down, then glanced down at her book.

"They're all talking about me, aren't they?" Evie muttered angrily, not looking up. "I thought they would've stopped by now. Don't they have anything better to do?"

"You are the talk of the school, with all the rumors surrounding your brother," Penny said, crossing an arm across her chest and propping her other arm over it, a hand to her chin. "But, you’re ignoring it all… or perhaps you’re not as observant as I thought?"

“I don’t care for rumors,” Evie responded testily. Suddenly, she decided she didn’t like how Penny was looking at her, as if scrutinizing her, analyzing. It took all her concentration to keep still and not fidget under her gaze.

“I would have thought you would about these though.” Penny mused. “I don't think this will die down so easily, in all honesty. Why, does it bother you?"

Evie made herself meet Penny's gaze, clenching her book tightly. "I don’t care for rumors,” she repeated hotly.

"Gossip is dangerous," Rowan said next to her, unaware of the tension. She had just finished glaring at a group of whispering students on Evie's behalf, though, and she felt a bit happy about that, that Rowan cared. "It's bad enough people are still talking, next thing you know, the rumors are all going to be twisted and exaggerated."

Penny laughed. "You're right about that. Rumors are a powerful thing, and they spread _ fast. _ I would know, that's all people ever come to me for, just to talk my ear off about what's happening with who or what."

Oh, right. Narrowing her eyes, Evie recalled Penny was remarkably popular for a first year, and she had heard of people admiring Penny’s appearance as well as her performance in Potions so far. She was friendly and easy to talk to, and she was one of the first people to know what was going on in Hogwarts. The girl was usually surrounded by people, so it struck Evie as a bit odd that Penny wasn’t flanked by admirers at the moment, but Penny _ was _ also talking to her, after all. Evie wasn’t very popular at all, the opposite of that, in fact. She doubted anyone would want to approach them now, and the Courtyard atmosphere spoke volumes.

“Sorry,” Evie said a bit icily, still not happy about Penny’s questions. “Did you want something?”

“Oh, yes,” Penny said, blinking. Looking at Rowan, she said, “Jane Court asked to see you, about the House points you lost.”

Rowan winced. “Don’t say that so nonchalantly…”

Penny smiled, “don’t worry, she sounded pretty happy. Something about a chance to redeem yourself, I think she said. Go and see her, will you?”

Giving a long drawn, almost resigned sigh at the prospect of facing the consequences of her actions, Rowan stood, and seeing an opportunity to escape any more of Penny's possible questions, Evie snapped her book shut, and jumped to her feet. “I’ll go with you,” she offered quickly, and Rowan smiled at her, a bit nervously. Penny bid them goodbye, and took their spot, immediately flocked by students. Evie scoffed, shaking her head, and let Rowan lead them out, and once out of the Courtyard, Evie was able to breathe a bit easier, and she rolled her shoulders slightly, getting rid of the tension. She hated to admit it, but Penny Haywood was right, even if she had annoyed her. Rumors were a powerful thing, and Evie wasn’t entirely sure she could continue ignoring it.

She could continue trying though.

Upon entering the Hufflepuff common room, Jane Court was on them immediately.

“It looks like you have a chance to redeem yourself,” she said, echoing Penny’s words. She shoved a piece of parchment towards Rowan, who looked confused and took it, scrambling to open it. “Professor Snape sent this letter directly to our common room. I took a peek, and it seems he wants to give you a chance to restore the House points you lost us.”

“Professor Snape?” Evie furrowed her brow and peered over Rowan’s shoulder as she unfolded the letter and read the letter.

"He says he found evidence my potion was tampered with… and wants to… reward back the points if we run an errand for him?" Rowan said slowly, after a beat. "Doesn't sound right."

"Yeah, it's totally wrong. Rubbish, I tell you!" Nymphadora Tonks yelled from a couch, sprawled over it, crossing her ankles. The common room lighting combined with the fire flickering in the fireplace made her look especially laid-back and cozy, her hair was at its usual shade of bright pink tinted with warm golden lighting, and she was waving around a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. She rolled her eyes. "Old Snape would never do that. I was trying to tell Jane, but she wouldn't have it!"

"Do you want to win the House Cup this year or not?" Jane snapped at Tonks.

"The letter's _ rubbish _, Jane!" Tonks groaned.

"It is a bit weird," admitted Rowan, handing the letter to Evie. She read it more clearly, and ultimately decided Tonks did have a point. The letter was fishy, and while they had only known Snape for a short amount of time, it was clear he was disdainful of everyone besides the Slytherins, and he had made his contempt clear when he took away points from Rowan, despite Evie pointing out Merula's interference with the Bulbadox powder. She doubted he would restore any points back, evidence or not.

"Tonks could be right," Evie shrugged, giving Jane an almost apologetic look when she turned disapprovingly at her. "I mean, it's too convenient, isn't it? This is Snape we're talking about."

"Thank you!" Tonks said, grinning at her, an easy smile that seemed contagious, and Evie couldn't help but smile back. "Someone gets it."

"In any case," said Jane, sternly, "I want you to go see him. Even if he didn't write it, the worst he could do is tell you that."

"Worst he could do is poison us for wasting his time," Rowan said under her breath. Evie agreed. Tonks cackled from her spot on the couch, and tossed a bean at Jane, who scowled.

-

In the end, Rowan and Evie ended up going to Snape, but to spy on him instead of confronting him. Evie had suggested the idea, hoping somehow they would glimpse he had genuinely sent the letter.

"How would we know that?" Rowan had asked, confused.

"He could write another, and we would know immediately," Evie said, but internally knew how weak her response was. Really, she was just curious to see how long they could stall until the imposter who sent the letter revealed themselves, see who would try humiliating Rowan through a false letter. She wasn't too happy about the fact that someone was trying to set Rowan up, so she was quick to offer her help to Rowan for the time being.

"We have to avoid that room mentioned in the letter for now," Rowan had said then, "it could be a trap for all we know."

"Got it."

They spent their free time over the course of the week tailing Snape as best as they could, keeping an eye out for any sign that he was the writer of the letter, and Evie made sure to watch from the corner of her eyes for anyone who might be following them. At the end of the week, however, after watching Snape sorting and restocking potions ingredients for the third time, Evie figured he definitely wouldn't have sent the letter, mostly for her own sanity and eagerness to end this spying, thinking of how much she'd rather be doing anything else. She had fallen a bit short on homework lately.

"He's so boring," Rowan whispered in agreement, "but that's pretty much what I expected."

When Jane had asked about their meeting with Snape, Rowan had lied and said he had pushed it back, claiming he was busy and had no desire to abide by Rowan's schedule, and set the meeting to another day, much to Jane's dismay. It was all to stall for time, and Evie hoped they'd get to the bottom of the situation before the date Rowan had made up came around. Jane seemed particularly restless and eager to restore their lost points, having fallen in last place, after the Gryffindors, and the rest of the Hufflepuffs shared the same sentiment as Jane, unhappy about their current placement for the House Cup so early in the year,. However, some did express the unfairness of it all.

"All the potion did was explode, and through no fault of your own," a kind Hufflepuff boy reassured Rowan one day while she was going through a Transfiguration essay. "It was Snyde who deserved to have five more points taken from her."

"Snyde?"

"Sure. The Slytherins gave her a hard time about it, and she looked really angry about the whole thing, even though it was her own fault she got in trouble in the first place." The boy laughed. "I say she got what she deserved, but a little more punishment wouldn't have hurt."

Merula Snyde.

Rowan, breathless after running towards the library to find Evie one day, blurted out the Slytherin's name.

"Shh!" hissed Madam Pince.

"What about her?" Evie asked, in a low voice.

"How didn't we see it?" Rowan whispered fiercely, "it was right under our noses! The letter, the convenience of it all, Merula Snyde left angry and wanting revenge - it was her, Evie!"

That got Evie's attention. She nudged her book to the side, leaning towards Rowan. Rowan did have a point, now that she thought about it. The past week, Merula had been quiet, pointedly ignoring both of them in Potions class, working on her potions silently. It had been a blessing for Rowan, who had been worried Merula would pull another stunt, but she had left them alone, and for the most part, hardly spoke to them unless she needed something, or Snape was around. Her expression was always cold, eyes locked onto her work, but now Evie realized she had been angry.

"So, what do we do about it?"

Rowan slumped in her chair. "Dunno, I didn't think that far. Maybe we could tell someone she impersonated a teacher? Let them handle it?"

Evie made a face. "Like they would do anything. We don't even have proof."

Giving a sigh, Rowan crossed her arms, tapping a finger quickly, thoughtful. Then, a glint appeared in her eyes, and she looked at Evie pointedly. “_ We _ can do something, at least,” she said slowly.

Off the bat, Evie could tell she would not be able to talk Rowan out of whatever the girl had planned, and sensed a losing battle. She groaned quietly, rubbed at her temples and muttered, “you want to check out the place the letter mentioned to carry out the errand, don’t you? Rowan -”

“We could catch her that way!” Rowan insisted, voice rising, earning herself a very sharp glare from Madam Pince, and then lowering her voice, added, “I mean, it would force her to reveal herself. I did manage to learn the Full Body-Bind curse, I’ve been practicing lots of spells, so the moment she comes out of hiding - bam! She’d be completely petrified, and one of us could go fetch a professor. Come on, I need your help to pull this off!”

“I thought you didn’t like trouble -"

“It’s worth it! You might not have to worry about her, but I do and I'd prefer not to spend my days here at Hogwarts letting Merula trample all over me!” Rowan hissed.

Quickly surveying the library, Evie ducked her head, flushing. “Alright, alright! Alert the whole school, why don’t you?" Merlin, who knew Rowan was such a handful? Feeling a small headache coming on, Evie gave Rowan a dismissive wave, sighing in resignation. "I’ll go with you - at least to keep you out of trouble. I'll be out in five.”

“Brilliant!" Rowan cheered as quietly as she could, brightening, a victorious smile on her face. She leapt up from her seat and gathered her things, sweeping by Evie as she exited the library. “I’ll be waiting for you near the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom!”

Soon enough, that's where they were standing five minutes later. The corridor was near empty, a few wandering students hanging about, but empty enough that no one really looked their way. Rowan kept looking over her shoulder, until Evie insisted she stop.

"You look suspicious," Evie said in a hushed voice.

"Sorry. I'm a bit nervous."

"Okay, well, let's start then, if you're ready," Evies gestured to the room down the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, and Rowan inhaled sharply before exhaling. It was now or never, and honestly, Evie wanted to get this over with.

"Yeah. Yeah, okay, let's go," Rowan nodded.

Evie nodded her agreement and placed both their bags in the empty Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, but both kept their wands at their sides. Evie wasn't sure what to expect out of this whole situation, and hoped no one would show up. Maybe Merula got tired of waiting? Evie wasn't one to care about petty acts of revenge, but this meant something to Rowan, and the least she could do was help her friend. Giving the corridor one last glance, now completely empty, they approached the door, and Rowan stared up at it. She reached out, and gripped the handle, and after a moment's hesitation, she tugged the door open. The door gave a long groan, revealing its dark confines.

"_ Lumos _," Evie held out her wand as Rowan stepped inside, Evie close behind, and suddenly, she was shoved towards Rowan and into the room, hard.

Tumbling to the cold ground, Rowan gave a yelp as Evie did her best to not fall too hard on her, placing the palms of her hands to the floor as she collided with it, but successfully keeping off Rowan for the most part. There was a strange feeling to the ground, Evie noted for a second, as she scrambled to her feet, a rough, misshapen form protruding from the smooth surface of the floor. Whipping around, Evie caught sight of short brown hair, before the heavy door slammed shut and sealed them in darkness.

"Sorry, Salazar!" called a familiar voice from the other end of the door, "I only meant to trap Khanna, but you're like a puppy, always following her. I was hoping you'd be shaken off one way or another, but I couldn't let this opportunity slide!"

Heart beating quickly, Evie pulled at the door handle with all her might, but the door wouldn't budge, locked. Oh, if only she knew _ Alohomora! _"Merula! What are you doing? Let us out!"

"Can't do that, sorry."

Rowan had gotten to her feet, and she kicked the door furiously. "Snyde! I'll get you back for this, mark my words!"

Merula laughed. "Yeah? Focus on surviving, first."

"What?"

"Have fun!" Merula jeered from the other end of the door, and she retreated, footsteps echoing in the corridor until they became faint, and faded.

"Oh, _ Merlin. _" Rowan gasped.

Evie turned around, slowly. Her wand had fallen out of her hand during the tumble, and still emitted a glow that lit up the room dimly. Her eyes now adjusting to the darkness, a silhouette of what appeared like tendrils surrounded them, and an earthy smell filled the room. Something began to twist around her ankle, and Evie's heart dropped as she realized they had just been locked in a room with Devil's Snare.

Becoming entangled in an instant, Evie struggled against the constricting vines as they grew tighter and tighter, enveloping her more. Mind racing, she tried her best to rack her brain for anything about Devil’s Snare, but her attention was forcibly pulled towards the harsh plant as it tugged even harder, wrapping around her ankle and nearly pulling her feet from under her, and she let out a yelp.

“No, no, no,” Rowan was wailing, and amidst her struggle, Evie saw her wave her wand shakily, casting _ Lumos _ , brightening the room even more. To her horror, frozen in shock, the light only revealed more of the plant, and it was _ enormous _. It filled the room from top to bottom, its thick vines splayed across every corner of the room, besides near the door, where light was most abundant. How on earth did a plant like this end up inside the castle, in this room?!

More importantly, how did Merula know it was here?

Focus, Evie told herself, then forced the quick, shallow breaths escaping her to slow, and become deeper, attempting to calm down. Devil’s Snare… what did she read about the blasted plant? Devil’s Snare detested light, but it had hardly recoiled at the light Rowan and herself were giving off, given its size. Then, it hit her.

It wasn’t enough.

"Rowan! My wand, give it to me!" Evie shouted, yanking her hand free.

Rowan tossed her wand, and before the vines could pull her arm against her body, Evie gripped it tightly, then raised the wand, going through the spell motion quickly.

“_ Lumos Maxima! _” She yelled.

An immense, bright light exploded from the tip, glowing brighter than before, and Evie had to look away, ducking her head and squeezing her eyes shut. The effect was immediate. The vines drew within itself, curling away from the light, and the vines that had wrapped around Evie retreated within the second, freeing her. Quickly, Evie jumped away, nearly slamming into the door, and into Rowan. She was breathing heavily, adrenaline rushing, hair falling into her face.

“The door,” Evie said hurriedly, “quickly!”

Rowan, stunned, nodded, and began to pound her fists onto the heavy wood. “Help!” she shouted, “someone _ open the door! _”

Fortunately, she didn’t have to bang on it for long. Heavy footsteps approached the door, and Rowan stopped her pounding.

“What’s goin’ on in there?” a gruff voice asked.

“The door’s locked!” Rowan called out in a rush, tugging at the handle.

“Huh?” The door rattled. “Yer right. Alright, outta the way!”

Rowan and Evie jumped back, and with a grunt, the door unlocked and swung open. A large, bearded figure stood in the doorway, blocking the light pouring in from the corridor. After blinking away light spots, Evie met the Gamekeeper, Rubeus Hagrid’s surprised gaze, his eyebrows high and mouth slightly agape.

“_ Merlin’s beard! _What are yeh doin’ inside that room with that Devil’s Snare?” Hagrid exclaimed, sounding aghast, voice booming. “Get away from it, yer scarin’ it!”

“Scaring it?” Evie echoed incredulously, but wasted no time in heeding Hagrid’s words, grabbing a hold of her friend's arm and pulling Rowan from the room. Hagrid closed the door behind them, and Evie whispered a quick _ Nox _ to her wand.

“Thank you,” Rowan said breathlessly. Her long, dark hair had fallen into her face, falling in loose tendrils and obscuring her eyes, until she gave an irritated huff and tucked the strands behind her ears.

“Rubeus Hagrid, at yer service,” Hagrid said humbly, giving a grin, then furrowed his brow. “But what were yeh doin’ in there? Don’t yeh know Devil’s Snare is dangerous? Feisty plant, that is. Yeh could’ve been hurt!”

At this, Rowan lowered her head and glared at the ground. “ ‘s not like we wanted to be in there with that Devil’s Snare,” she grumbled, looking cross, “a first year Slytherin named Merula Snyde locked us in there.”

Hagrid’s eyebrows rose even higher, something Evie didn’t think was possible.

She adjusted her rumpled robes, patting her own mussed up hair, watching as Hagrid sputtered, “she did?! That’s awful!”

“I thought I could -” Rowan paused, thought better of it, then shook her head, “nevermind. I’m glad you came when you did, Hagrid, you saved our skins.”

Evie nodded. Tucking her wand away, she grimaced at her sudden fatigue, but steeled herself and for good measure, shook her head slightly, trying to shake away her sudden vertigo. It had been really fortunate Hagrid arrived, Rowan was right. She wasn't sure how much longer she could keep the spell up, her charm work wasn’t the best, especially considering how her arrival at Hogwarts had been the start of her usage of magic, and she had only been able to explore and practice more spells sparingly between lessons. Lumos Maxima was above her current level, and she only pulled it off through desperate willpower.

“Yeh got to report it, what that Snyde girl did,” Hagrid said, frowning, breaking Evie's train of thought. He peered around the empty corridor as if to locate Merula, but of course, she was nowhere to be found. He shook his head disapprovingly. “Dunno how she found this Devil’s Snare, but I just can’t believe someone would do that to yeh two! If yeh hadn’t done that spell, well, both of yeh would’ve been goners.”

Rowan winced, exchanging a look with Evie. “We don’t have any evidence though,” Rowan explained, “we have a letter she wrote but we can’t prove she wrote it. We came here to try and find something to connect her to the letter, but… that didn't work out, obviously." She gave a half-hearted shrug. "It’ll be useless to go to Professor Sprout and accuse Merula of this. She’d think we were mad."

Sighing, Hagrid shook his head, crossing his arms. "Sorry about that," he said, sounding very sincere, "I can't help yeh there, even if I wanted to. Reckon yeh let this blow over and avoid any more trouble with that Snyde girl, er…" He was squinting at Rowan. "Sorry, didn't catch yer name?"

"Rowan Khanna."

"And yeh?"

Evie startled, realizing Hagrid was speaking to her now. "Oh, er," she said, "Evie Salazar."

"Salazar?" Hagrid's eyebrows were high on his face again. "Like Jacob Salazar? Blimey, I see it now! Yeh look just like yer brother, Evie, and stirrin' up as much trouble as he did…"

"I'm not looking for it, trust me," Evie grumbled, bristling just a bit, suddenly defensive.

"No offense by that, Evie." Chuckling, Hagrid reached over and gave Rowan a hearty pat on the shoulder. "Anyway, yeh ought to be gettin' outta here," he reasoned, "Don't yeh worry, I'll take care of the plant. Get goin’ now - before anyone comes around!"

Rowan rubbed at her neck. "Alright," she sighed, "we better go then, do something about our clothes."

"Goodbye, Hagrid, and thank you again, really," said Evie gratefully.

Leaving Hagrid to tend to the Devil's Snare, Rowan and Evie made their way towards the Great Hall, but not before quickly darting into their dormitory to change out of their tattered clothing. Rowan was relatively unscathed, only a few tears at the edge of her robes, but Evie's uniform was in ruins. She briefly wondered what she would do about the ruined clothing, but decided to change into something casual, just for the night. She momentarily worried about what to do with her ruined clothing, but her worries were laid to rest when she reminded herself the house elves would repair the clothing, seeing as they did the cleaning in the dormitories. Worries sated, Evie laid out the uniform neatly before meeting Rowan outside the Hufflepuff House. Rowan had left her robes behind as well, but still wore the uniform underneath. She gave Evie a small, tentative smile, then nodded her head towards the Great Hall.

"That didn't go according to plan at all," she breathed, and the two lapsed into a thoughtful silence, soaking in the incident.

"At least we'll be able to see the shock on Merula's face," Evie mused, breaking the silence, "seeing as we survived."

Rowan laughed.


	3. Friend and Foe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back with another chapter! Bit longer than the previous, but hopefully it makes up for the wait!

"All right, you two, _ spill _," Tonks said, reaching out and taking ahold of Rowan and Evie's sleeves before they could bolt. Looking sufficiently guilty, Rowan allowed herself to be dragged onto the couch, followed unwillingly by Evie, who scowled after failing to get away after a brief struggle. 

They had managed to get through dinner, avoiding Jane Court's inquisitive looks she kept tossing them throughout the entire meal, but couldn't escape the scorching gaze of Nymphadora Tonks. She had taken one look at their frazzled appearances and while she didn’t dare ask questions with the Prefect around, Evie knew they were going to be subjected to her questions later.

The Hufflepuff Common Room was fairly empty, with most students having gone to bed after dinner. The remaining students were scattered across the common room, heads bent and absorbed over parchments, going through a late night homework session. Usually, Evie would be among them, but after the encounter with the Devil's Snare, all Evie longed for was to crawl under the warmth and security of her blankets. 

She shot a longing look towards the dormitories, and gave a sigh.

"What's with those looks? Snape force you two to duel or something?" Tonks asked, bemused, and when Evie didn't answer, still sharing an uncertain look with Rowan, Tonks' mouth fell slightly open, eyes wide.

"No, he _ didn't _," Tonks gasped, but Evie didn't miss the excitement behind her tone.

"He didn't," Evie confirmed, huffing. Tonks' expression fell and she tugged at Evie’s arm. Too much energy, Evie thought irritably, shooting Tonks a weak glare that had no effect on the girl. Why couldn’t Tonks have waited until morning to pry for answers?

“Well, there’s got to be a reason you both look like you came across an angry Kneazle you pissed off and it tore you to shreds,” Tonks demanded hotly, “you don’t come out of meeting Snape, detention or not, with scratches and rubbish in your hair.”

Evie ducked her head immediately, blushing a bit as she quickly gave her hair a shake, and when she turned to Tonks, she found her with a smug smirk. "Fine,” she said crossly, finally tugging her arms away from Tonks’ grasp. Tonks let go easily, and leaned back, satisfied. “We didn’t go see Snape at all.”

"It was Merula Snyde," Rowan cut in, bluntly. She had her arms crossed, and her expression was firm, her eyes obscured by the orange light from the fireplace reflecting off her glasses. Evie opened her mouth to quiet her, but at Rowan’s hard stare, she quickly swallowed her words. Well, Evie rationalized, there was no harm in revealing the real culprit.

Tonks gave a low whistle. “What, she did that to you?”

“In a way,” Rowan shrugged. She reached up to pull a piece of vegetation from her hair, and offered it to Tonks, who took it, bewildered. “It was Merula who wrote that note, with Snape, offering to restore our House points I lost. So, you were right, Tonks, the letter was rubbish.”

“Huh. I suppose I should have seen that coming," Tonks mused slowly, twisting the piece of Devil's Snare in her fingers, giving it a questioning look through squinted eyes. She didn't seem at all surprised at Rowan's accusation. "Slytherins _ are _ very resourceful, Jane was mad not to at least suspect anything fishy.” Tonks added, then brought her leg up, and rested it atop the other leg, propping her elbow on top, and leaned into her hand. 

“It was meant to lure Rowan out to a room full of Devil’s Snare, under the guise of being a Potions stockroom,” Evie pressed forward.

"Why were you there then?" Tonks asked, quirking an eyebrow up. "The letter didn't ask for the two of you."

Evie rubbed at her eyes, sighing. "Rowan convinced me. But that's not the point. We went to the room, and, well, it obviously wasn't any Potions stockroom."

“Uh-huh," Tonks rubbed a finger at her cheek absentmindedly, leaning into her palm more. "So all that talk about meeting Snape the entire week? A lie.” 

“Oh,” Rowan winced. “Yeah. We were stalling. We went to go spy on Snape instead, see if he was actually the person who sent the letter. We couldn’t really, well, talk to him… we know he favors the Slytherins,” she muttered, “he wouldn’t take so kindly to us accusing someone from his House pretending to be him, and that would have definitely cost us more House points.”

“Ah,” Tonks nodded sagely. 

“In the end, we decided to check out the room in the letter, after we figured out it was Snyde who sent the letter. I, er, wanted to catch her in the act,” Rowan continued, trailing off a bit, but quickly resumed, “but, um, before we could do anything, she came up behind us and shoved us in the room. Locked us in.”

“With… the Devil’s Snare?” 

“Yeah.”

“The bloody hell was a Devil’s Snare doing inside Hogwarts?” Tonks asked, astonished. Her bright eyes were wide.

“Er, no idea, really,” Rowan blinked, unsure herself. “It’s not like we stopped and _ asked. _ Anyway, the Devil’s Snare… it was enormous. The size of it, Tonks! You wouldn’t believe it - it was lucky we already had a _ Lumos _going on, otherwise…” She gave a shake of her head. 

Tonks winced. 

“You made it out though, obviously.” Tonks supplied.

“Obviously,” echoed Rowan, chuckling a bit humorlessly. She shook her head. “It was thanks to Evie. She lit up the room with _ Lumos Maxima _, and that Devil's Snare retreated in seconds. I was lucky, I wasn't caught in the plant but Evie… well, she did most of the work, really impressive for someone in her situation, all tangled up." Rowan grinned at Evie, a relieved smile, and a glint of pride in her eyes. 

“It was nothing,” Evie said tiredly, waving off the compliment. “Honestly. It’s Hagrid you should be thankful for - a few more seconds and my spell would have gone out so we were lucky enough Hagrid opened the door when he did.”

“Don’t be so modest, it's a third-year spell!" Tonks gave Evie a pat on the back, leaning towards her, and Evie grimaced, leaning away. _ Merlin, when would this be over? _ She watched Rowan giggle a bit, and it was enough to push away her irritability in an instant, and she couldn’t help but give Rowan a tired smile.

“But," Tonks cut in, sounding serious again, "that Merula Snyde was mental for going through with that. Something seriously could have gone wrong, and well, if you two made enough noise about the whole thing, Snyde would've been in a world of trouble. In fact… she could be! So why aren't you two marching up to Dumbledore or Sprout?"

"Er…" Rowan looked conflicted.

"No, I mean it!" Tonks pressed, "evidence or not, you also have Hagrid as a witness. Sure, he didn't see Snyde, but he saw you two in that room, saw the Devil's Snare, not to mention, there's got to be a spell to trace Snyde somehow!" Suddenly, her eyes lit up. "The letter! She couldn't have forged Snape naturally - she must have used a spell! Her magical signature is probably still lingering, and there's got to be a spell to trace it."

Would it really be that easy? Evie met Rowan’s eyes. While she wasn’t entirely happy Merula had easily left both of them to the mercy of the Devil’s Snare, Evie was also certain bringing up any attention to Merula’s actions would only fuel Merula’s drive to humiliate them. Rowan, especially. She wasn’t entirely sure why Merula had continued trying to get on Evie’s good side, but Evie had always ignored her, despite the nicer treatment. She hated how Merula treated Rowan.

However, it was Rowan's decision. Rowan was Merula's target, and so it seemed fit to have her decide. 

"She deserves it," Rowan began, "but…"

Tonks sputtered dubiously. "But? But what? You wanted her in trouble, now's your chance!" 

"But," Rowan repeated firmly, "don't you think that would cause more trouble from Snyde?"

"Then you just get back at her," said Tonks easily, waving a hand lazily, "but I don't think she would continue to after you rat her out to her Head of House or Dumbledore."

"She might -"

"It's better than letting another situation like this happen!"

Rowan was still hesitating. "It's just -"

"Mate, isn't that why you even did all this to begin with?" Tonks interrupted, clearly exasperated. She frowned at Rowan, and the girl visibly tensed. "You wanted to catch her in the act, and snitch on her. Frankly, she deserves it, and she's not worth sparing a second thought about!" 

"Is it really worth it though? It was mental enough to try and catch her in the act, and look where it nearly got us," Rowan snapped. 

"It could have killed you both!" Tonks hissed.

"I know, Tonks!" Rowan hissed back with equal force. She looked ready to stand and storm out, but only when her eyes fell on Evie did she inhale sharply, and remain seated. 

"Don't you think I know that?" she said quietly. "I wanted to stand up to her, and not let her push me around, but -" Rowan hesitated. She was wringing her hands together, her brows brought together. They fell into silence, with only the fire's occasional crackling to supply noise, and Evie spared a look around the common room, giving Rowan some space. Most of the students had gone to bed now, leaving only them awake. Rowan's sigh brought Evie's attention back, and her heart fell a bit at the crestfallen expression on the witch's face.

"I don't think I can handle whatever else she throws at me," she muttered, wincing. "I'd rather keep low. For now." 

"That… might be for the best," Evie admitted, but Rowan didn't acknowledge her, instead opting to look into the fire. She tossed her friend a worried look, but said nothing of it, and Tonks, sensing the bit of tension, gave a loud sigh, and hopped to her feet.

"All right, well, I can't very well force you to get someone in trouble, can I? Either way," said Tonks, stretching, "I'll keep this between us. You don't have to worry about me prattling off to Jane or Sprout, my lips are sealed." She made a zipping motion near her lips, and when Rowan tore her eyes away from the flames, she offered her a wide grin. 

"Thanks," Rowan said, a bit gingerly, and Tonks nodded.

"Just be careful, yeah?" Tonks said.

Rowan made an uncommitted noise.

"Right. I'm off to sleep, it's bloody late. You two should do the same," Tonks called over her shoulder as she bounded towards her dormitory, "see you in the morning." 

Rowan blinked after her, then huffed softly. "Well, let's go. I'm beat." She rose and Evie nodded eagerly. As Rowan made way towards their dorm room, Evie reached out and took hold of her hand, effectively halting Rowan in her steps. She turned, bewildered, and Evie merely gave her hand what she hoped was a reassuring squeeze, giving her a small smile. Evie hoped Rowan would understand the small gesture. She was there for her, they were friends, after all, and whatever Rowan was feeling, Evie just wanted to offer her support.

A flicker of uncertainty crossed Rowan's features, and she wavered, her lips parting but no words came out. After a beat, she silently nodded, squeezing back. A wave of relief and warmth flooded through Evie and by the small smile appearing on Rowan's face, she guessed Rowan felt the same. 

-

The weekend went by relatively uneventfully. Rowan managed to avoid Jane for the time being, keeping to herself in her dormitory and burying herself in her homework. Evie was usually with her, taking the chance to catch up on what she had been putting off from the time they had been spying on Snape, and even going as far as to get ahead in their readings. Rowan made no more mention of her feelings towards the Devil's Snare incident, and Evie respectfully didn't bring it up. Tonks made no appearance until Monday, when they had a flying lesson with Madam Hooch.

"Wotcher, Rowan!" Tonks called gleefully that morning, on the way to the lesson, striding towards them, already radiating energy.

It was just after breakfast, and Evie was still rubbing the drowsiness away from her eyes as she gazed at the boundless Hufflepuff. Rowan had stuffed the last of a muffin in her mouth at that moment, and warily took Tonks in as she fell into step with them next to her.

"What?" Rowan said through a mouthful of muffin, before swallowing quickly. Evie snickered.

"Brilliant," Tonks grinned at that. "Have a nice weekend?”

"Nice enough," Evie said, and Rowan made a noise of agreement. 

"No more incidents, yeah?" Tonks asked, undeterred by how Evie immediately tensed at the mention, and shot her a warning look. Tonks ignored her, her eyes remaining on Rowan.

"None," Rowan replied, stiffly, but her features remained relaxed, and Evie allowed herself to loosen up. Tonks made no acknowledgement of this, and instead nodded approvingly at Rowan's response, slipping easily into a casual stride and a relaxed expression. 

Well, that hadn’t been a disaster. Evie half expected Tonks to rile Rowan up, but Tonks had handled the situation smoothly, and Evie could only approve in surprise.

They reached the Training Grounds with no more than a few words exchanged between them, mostly questions about what the day's lesson would be. Evie wasn't particularly fond of flying, but it was mandatory, and in her first few lessons, she had been curious to how flying worked, enough to tolerate the class. 

Before Hogwarts, Evie had never ridden a broom, much less handled one, but she had never been interested so she didn't think twice of it. With a twinge of pain, Evie recalled Jacob had, perhaps once or twice, borrowed a broom and Evie had seen him fly on it, but if she remembered correctly, he never liked staying out for long, and because of that, he never owned a broom himself. 

"Why don't you buy one yourself?' Evie had asked when she was younger, after she caught Jacob staring at the brooms on display in Diagon Alley, his longing expression reflected off the glass. He startled, and laughed it off. 

"I'd rather be grounded than have my head in the clouds flying around on a broom," he had said. “I’ve got too many things to worry about down here, and I don’t need to add possible flying accidents to that list!”

She supposed it made sense.

Either way, flying was much harder than he had made it look, and off the bat, Evie realized she wasn't cut out for it. She had struggled summoning her broom, with it lying uselessly on the ground and flopping around a few times, and had equal trouble riding it, so much so that even Merula Snyde had come to her side and offered a few words of advice (which had mostly been snide comparisons between the two, and consisted of bragging Evie was almost sure Merula didn't realize she was doing. It was unhelpful, to say the least).

"You've got to try harder if you want to try out for Quidditch next year," Merula had said in that very snobby voice she always used whenever she was bragging. "I know I'm going to make the team next year. I'll be the fastest Seeker Slytherin House has ever seen, and even you won't be able to beat me." 

"That's alright," Evie had replied, "I don't care for Quidditch."

Quidditch tryouts were not allowed to first-years, anyway, and Evie had no desire in playing Quidditch.

Flying class was definitely at the bottom of classes Evie looked forward to.

"Well, well, well, guess she can't keep out of trouble," said Tonks, breaking Evie's reverie. Rowan had left them, and was marching towards something, and Evie blinked against the sun, trying to glimpse what Rowan was headed to. She spotted a few figures already in the grounds, robes of accented green and a sole red. It took a second for Evie to register what she was looking at, and suddenly, she recognized the familiar blonde hair and fearful look of the figure in the accented red robes.

"Ben Copper?" Evie asked aloud. He was surrounded.

"Who?" asked Tonks.

"Nevermind that!" Evie dashed after Rowan, calling after her.

“Snyde!” Rowan was yelling, paying no attention to Evie behind her, and even from the distance between them, Evie could practically see the anger in Rowan’s body language, her shoulders brought up tightly and her fingers curled into fists. It took no time at all for Rowan to march up towards the group of Slytherins, hair flowing wildly behind her, and Ben Copper, who gazed fearfully up at Rowan.

Merula was at the head of the cluster of Slytherins, and although they were together, the other Slytherins kept a small distance from Merula, tipping Evie off that they would bolt if needed, and were merely there to spectate.

"If it isn't Khanna," Merula drawled, eyeing Rowan and crossing her arms. "Didn't have enough last time? You’re looking awfully well after wrestling with the Devil’s Snare." 

"Shut up," Rowan snapped, glowering angrily. Evie went straight for Ben, and he immediately latched onto her, taking refuge behind her, gripping her arm. At this, Merula pursed her lips reproachfully.

“Isn’t this precious? Are you worried about him” she jeered.

Evie shot Merula a seething look, who then frowned, and Evie twisted around to face Ben, mouth thinning into a worried line.

"Are you alright?" Evie asked.

"I just wanted to practice a bit," he said quickly, softly, as to assure Merula would not hear, "and they - they cornered me, I did try leaving but -" 

"What? You're bullying anyone now, is that it?" Rowan had managed to catch Ben's words, and he whimpered a bit, shrinking. “Couldn’t get rid of us with the Devil’s Snare, and you’re taking it out on anyone who crosses your path?”

Merula sneered. “Oh, don’t take it so personally, Khanna. Not everything is about you." She gave a scornful sniff, particularly disdainful and offended to have even been implied to be thinking of Rowan. "I was _ trying _ to help this coward but he's so scared, I don't know why I bothered! Honestly, you'd think he was muggle-born, by the way he acts, jumping away at the slightest bit of magic!" 

A few of the Slytherins gathered laughed at Merula's words, and Evie felt Ben's grip tighten, and he made no attempt to deny Merula's words. The Slytherin came to a realization the exact moment Evie did, her eyes widening.

"Merula, don't you dare -" Evie started, voice low in warning, but it was in vain, as the Slytherin began speaking without restraint. 

"Oh, oh, that's _ rich _ ," Merula exclaimed, gleefully, ignoring Evie entirely, and Evie scowled in annoyance, "you _ are _ muggle-born! I was only kidding, but by Salazar," she cut off with a cold laugh, "you're afraid of magic!" 

Anger coursed through Evie, and she willed herself to stand a bit taller, for Ben's sake, shielding him from the Slytherins' scrutinizing gazes. They began to mutter amongst themselves, some with cruel smirks on their faces, and others with conflicted, almost unreadable but guarded expressions. 

"There's nothing wrong with that," she snapped, her heart beating a bit quicker, as Merula’s narrowed eyes flashed to her, and she was suddenly all too aware of the situation. Ben remained behind her, silent and still aside from his slight trembling, and Evie's courage faltered. 

As if on cue, Rowan stepped forward, standing next to Evie, much to her relief. She almost felt a bit ashamed for relying on Rowan to take up the helm of this mess, how easily she was willing to give up the spotlight, but she could hardly dwell on those feelings. She didn’t feel ashamed, and Rowan was admirable, really. Evie didn’t regret stepping down from the spotlight, it suited Rowan so much better. 

At Rowan’s boldness, the Slytherins gave low, taunting whistles, and Rowan flushed. She didn't stand down, though, instead taking another step forward so that she was standing in front of Evie and Ben. 

"What is she doing? Is she mad?" Ben whispered behind her, choosing a rather unfortunate moment to speak up. Evie shrugged, shaking her head. She was fiercely proud of Rowan for standing up for herself and for Ben, she also hoped none of this would dissolve into something awful. Rowan was acting on her rage and shame from the Devil's Snare incident, driven by the adrenaline and fueled by vengeance. She was eager to prove herself again, having failed the last time, and Evie knew, reluctantly, she had to stop Rowan before she could provoke Merula. The Slytherin was already tense and had her eyes narrowed at Rowan's direction, but the taunting smirk on her face was still present, which only seemed to drive Rowan further into anger. 

“Rowan - “ Evie began.

"Are you offended, Khanna?" Merula asked sweetly, cutting Evie off, "are you so weak and stupid that you side with the mudbloods, to hide your weakness? Can't say I'm surprised, really. You belong with them." 

"That’s funny, Snyde," Rowan replied icily, "at least I'm not pathetic enough to have to resort to bullying a muggle-born student to feel stronger." 

"Mudblood…? What on Earth is a mud -" Ben was muttering behind Evie, and she quickly shook her head at him, effectively cutting him off before he could repeat the word. Bewilderment was all over his features, eyebrows drawn together in confusion, but he didn't question her, closing his mouth. She gave him a look that she hoped said, _ I’ll explain later. _

Feet away from Rowan, Merula bristled. A few of the Slytherins surrounding them had their eyes glued on Merula, a strange analytical look, assessing what or how Merula would respond to Rowan. For a moment, Merula wavered, under their scrutinizing, and Evie thought for a second, her eyes had locked onto her own, but it passed in the blink of an eye, and Evie was almost sure she imagined it. 

"Hilarious - you won't be laughing when I'm through with you," Merula snarled, and in a flurry, she brandished her wand at Rowan, who immediately jumped back and reached for her own wand, hand gripping the handle. Evie's heart dropped. Oh, no. 

The Slytherin roared with laughter. 

“Duel, duel, duel!” they chanted, egging Merula on. 

The corner of Merula's lips quirked up, and she smirked.

"Rowan, don't!" Panic rushing through her, Evie lunged forward and reached out, grabbing at Rowan's wand arm. She resisted a bit, but Evie was determined, and her grip tightened. Duelling wasn't allowed, and the last thing Evie wanted was for Rowan to get into trouble. 

“Don’t back down now,” Merula sneered, “you’re just all talk, aren’t you?”

“C’mon, Salazar, don’t be a kill-joy!” A Slytherin called from the sidelines.

“And here we thought _ you _would be the one to go mad,” someone cackled, “just like your brother!”

_ Ignore it. _

"Let go!" Rowan snapped at Evie.

"You don't have to prove anything!" Evie insisted, and Rowan paused. Not to mention, she thought weakly, but not voicing out loud, they hardly knew any duelling spells.

"What's going on here?" A voice came from behind them, clipped and loud, carrying with authority. Nearly jumping out of her skin, Evie turned to find Madam Hooch taking in the scene with sharp yellow eyes. Tonks strolled in beside her, and looked at Evie pointedly, quirking an eyebrow up, before her eyes flickered from Rowan, to Merula, to Evie again. 

“Is that a wand out?” Madam Hooch’s voice was dangerously low, and Merula’s wand arm dropped to her side, her face suddenly void of her previous malice. 

Almost innocent, Evie noted dryly.

Madam Hooch scowled, displeased with the lack of an answer. She turned sharply to the Slytherins, and barked, her voice carrying through the grounds, "All right, scatter, the lot of you! And put that wand _ away, _ Miss Snyde, before I assume the worst and give you a good amount of detention! You know the rules!" She placed her hands on her hips, glaring down at the students, piercing and intimidating. 

"And you, Mr. Copper, off with you as well, you do not have class with me at this time. Off with you!" 

Ben whimpered and Evie gave him a soft pat, flashing a reassuring smile. He returned it shakily, but it was gone as soon as it appeared, and he cast a worried, fearful look over Evie's shoulder to Merula, and took off, having been given a safe opening to escape. 

Evie let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. 

"You can let go now," Rowan said, and starting, Evie blinked down at her grip on Rowan's arm, and she quickly pulled away.

"Sorry." Evie said.

Rowan exhaled sharply. “N-no, I’m sorry. You were only helping. Thanks.” The tentative smile she gave Evie didn’t completely reach her eyes, and Evie only nodded, accepting her apology. 

The Slytherins immediately broke apart, disappointed, muttering and grumbling as they walked off and took their positions to begin the lesson. Merula lagged behind, glowering at Rowan and Evie as she hastily tucked her wand away, and, satisfied with order retained, Madam Hooch nodded curtly to herself, and made her way to begin her class. 

Merula didn’t speak to them after that, storming off after Madam Hooch and kept a distance from Evie and Rowan during the lesson. A few times, however, Evie caught Merula staring intently at her, almost glaring, but definitely judging, as if she were trying to make her mind up about something. She shivered slightly, uneasy, and made sure to not meet her eyes throughout the entire class. 

As they were practicing hovering in the air, Tonks made her way over to Evie and Rowan, wobbling in the air on her broom for a bit before the broom stilled perfectly in the air. Evie marveled at this, still struggling to even stay in the air for more than a few minutes, and at her side, Rowan sighed at Tonks' approach.

Tonks cracked a sheepish grin. 

"Hey, no need for that. I just wanted to, well, it was awfully brave of you to stick up for that Gryffindor kid. I don't know him that well besides his reputation among the Gryffindors that he's pretty… low on courage, but his being a muggle-born..." Tonks shook her head, "definitely explains his behavior. I've got a muggle-born dad myself, and I know how twisted _ purebloods _ can be. It was wrong of Snyde to call him what she did, and mock him for it." 

Rowan shifted uncomfortably on her broom. She had somehow managed to hover for a while. "It's just wrong," she shrugged, "I wasn't trying to be a hero or anything, I just hate bullies. Snyde needs a taste of her own medicine." 

"Yeah, well, let’s not give her a taste just yet," Evie warned in a low voice, focusing on her broom. Even now, she could feel Merula's eyes burning into their backs, and she fought the urge to look back. She didn't have to though, as Tonks' head swiveled without care to look at Merula, and she gave a chuckle. 

"No, definitely not yet," she said in an amused tone, "Snyde's been glaring daggers at you two the entire lesson, so yeah, don't provoke the snake more than you need to, yeah?" 

She directed the last part at Rowan.

Rowan groaned, landing herself on the ground and pulling the broom from under her. "Yeah, yeah, alright," she conceded, grumbling. Evie giggled a bit, and Rowan grinned.

It wasn't until the end of the class that Merula did more than glare. The class was tasked with cleaning up their broom stations before departing, and Tonks left them to partner up with Penny Haywood. 

Merula's usual spot was right in front of Evie. With Rowan next to her, Evie pointedly ignored the Slytherin, eyes never leaving her station as she tidied up. 

They worked silently, but after a few minutes, through the corners of her eyes, Evie could see Merula occasionally glance up at her, as quickly as she glanced back down. It was easy to ignore at first, but after the first few times, Evie began to grow irritated, and shifted a bit closer to Rowan, hoping to ward off any more of Merula's glances. 

It was a bit strange. Banter would usually fill the silence as they worked, and while Evie had always given Merula very little attention, giving her short, curt answers, Merula would be persistent and chatter along anyway, unperturbed by Evie's obvious disinterest. She almost missed the meaningless chatter. Almost. 

It was leagues better than the stuffy silence, though, Evie had to admit.

Merula glanced up at her again, looked like she wanted to say something, hesitated, then glanced back down. Having had enough, Evie inhaled sharply, finally placing her cloth on the table, head snapping up. 

"What?" she snapped. 

The sharpness of Evie's voice seemed to have shocked Merula, as she leaned back a bit, but she quickly regained her composure, placing her own cloth down. The sun was beaming down on them hard now, and a breeze was the only sound for a beat before Merula's lips parted, and she met Evie's eyes. 

"You don't have to mix with them, you know," she said. 

That wasn’t what she expected. Evie narrowed her eyes. "I'm sorry?" 

This seemed to encourage Merula, not deter her. "You don't have to mix in with those weaklings," she repeated, "aren't you better than that? You and I - we're both pureblooded… we both come from good, respectable families -"

"You don't know a thing about my family," Evie growled, bristling.

"Maybe not," Merula shrugged nonchalantly. "But I do know about your brother."

“You don’t know a thing about my brother.”

“I’ve heard the rumors. I’ve even heard the professors talking about you, about your brother, how they think he’s been working for the Dark Lord -”

Blood boiling, Evie's fingers immediately found her wand, the spell _ Flipendo _ at the tip of her tongue, but the sharp blow of Madam Hooch's whistle forced her out of her blind rage, and in shock, she blinked, and she recovered as soon as she could, blood rushing through her ears as she flushed. 

She wasn't supposed to lash out, she told herself, it's exactly what Merula wanted. Rowan was tossing her a worried look, as Madam's Hooch's words of dismissal only being faintly registered.

“Touchy subject?” Merula asked dryly, having clearly seen Evie’s movements, “I was only stating the facts, Salazar.”

Beside her, Rowan’s movements stilled, and Evie forced herself to take in a breath. She released her wand, and leveledly glared at Merula.

"_ I don’t want your facts. _ And you’d better watch your tongue, Merula,” Evie warned coldly. “I haven’t forgotten the _ fact _you trapped us in a room with a Devil's Snare that could have killed us. So, I think I'll pass on your offer, thanks." 

A flush of red blossomed across Merula's face, and if it was out of embarrassment or humiliation, Evie couldn't tell. Still, she stood her ground, and Merula sputtered for a moment, then the look on Merula's face morphed into one of rage. She grit her teeth, and glowered darkly at Evie. 

“Fine,” she spat, “but don’t you come crawling to me when you change your mind!”

“Don’t worry, I won’t!" Evie spat back.

Merula gave a leg of the cleaning station an angry kick, her heavy boots colliding against the wooden leg, and she stormed off, snatching up her bag.

"You alright, mate?" Rowan asked finally, turning to Evie, eyebrows furrowed. 

Evie barely heard herself reply. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," she shook her head, "I just let her get to me," she muttered. 

“Do you want to talk about -”

“No.”

Evie had said that with much more force than she intended. She lowered her head, refusing to meet Rowan’s eyes.

Rowan didn't say anything for a moment, studying Evie, then shook her head as well. "Alright, well, I'd be a hypocrite if I scolded you for almost launching into a duel with Snyde," she said, in a light tone. Evie suspected she was trying to lighten the mood, and she quickly took the bait, unwilling to explain anything else. She wanted to avoid talking about Jacob as long as she could, even if she knew she would have to tell Rowan about him one day. 

But not today.

"Yeah… right after Tonks told you not to," Evie teased weakly, and Rowan gave a laugh, and the tension dissipated, much to Evie's relief. Rowan made no further comment about it, and they grabbed their things, hoping to get out of the sun now that it had begun to climb higher in the sky. 

They made it as far as a few yards before Evie stopped in her tracks. A distance away from them, near the entrance of a castle corridor, stood Ben, looking as nervous as always, tossing anxious glances over his shoulders. She blinked. Was he waiting for someone? 

Evie nudged Rowan and gestured to Ben. 

"Let's go see how he's doing," Evie suggested.

"Sure, but let's walk and talk. We'll be late for Charms otherwise." 

"Ben!" Evie called as she bounded up to him, leading him to step back in surprise, but a smile flashed through his features as he took her in.

"Oh, Evie," he said, somewhat in relief, brightening. "And…”

“Rowan Khanna,” Rowan supplied, adjusting her glasses and slid them up her nose. 

“Right. I was just looking for you two, actually."

Ah. "Well, we’re here now. What is it?" Evie asked. 

Rowan coughed.

"Oh, right. Let's walk and talk, we both have Charms together anyway." Ben nodded, and as they walked, Evie noticed his pensive glances never stopped, and at one point, it caused even Rowan to glance behind them, only to look confused. 

"Er, Ben?" Evie spoke up, hesitantly, "what are you looking for?" 

Ben startled a bit. He quickly focused his eyes ahead of him, and Evie could see how much of a struggle that was, and she quickly added, in hopes to calm him, "sorry, I won't pry if you don't want me to." 

"No," Ben mumbled, bowing his head now, a bit dejected, "it's alright. I just.. it's what I wanted to talk to you about, actually, I just didn't exactly know how to, um… say it," he rubbed at his neck, trailing off at the end. Evie wasn't sure to press him or not, so she remained silent, patiently waiting for him to continue. It wouldn’t do any good to hurry Ben along.

"It's Snyde," he said at last, breathing out the words, as if he has been holding it in for some time. 

"I knew it," Rowan said in a whisper. 

"Is she following you?" Evie’s eyes swept across the corridor, seeking out familiar brown hair laced a tuft of orange. 

“Is she?” Ben’s voice rose an octave, and in a panic, he halted in his steps and twisted around, eyes flitting to catch sight of Merula. Evie shook her head and gently placed a hand on his shoulder, shaking her head.

“No! No, she isn’t,” she sighed, and Ben’s frantic searching ceased. "Not right now, anyway. I mean, is that why you keep looking around? Because she follows you?" 

Ben hesitated, before beginning to walk again. Ben was rather tall compared to Evie, and his long strides made it a challenge for her to keep up, even if he was walking slow. "Yeah. Sometimes. Sometimes she kinda pops out at me, tries scaring me." 

Rowan wrinkled her nose in obvious dislike. "Ugh, typical." 

"She says it's fun," Ben continued, clutching the strap of his bookbag. His eyes were downcast now. "Says I'm too much of a wimp to be in Gryffindor, and says I'm a disgrace to my House. Honest, I tried standing up for myself, because she was being awful, but…" He gave a half-hearted shrug, "I can't. I guess I just don't have it in me." 

"Oh, that's bollocks," Evie said, frowning, "you can't let her get under your skin. You can't let her discourage you, Rowan and I have had our fair share of Merula's tormenting." 

"Mostly just me," Rowan thought it helpful to point out. 

"...Right."

"But she's right, isn't she? I mean, I'm terrified of everything here! All this magic - this weird castle, wands, flying brooms, spells - this didn't exist to me months ago, and suddenly everyone's acting like I ought to have known all this from the start," Ben made a frustrated sound, giving a vigorous shake of his head. "One second I was a normal kid and the next I’m being shipped off into some fantasy world where _ dragons _ and _ killing curses _ exist. I think the Sorting Hat was wrong, Gryffindor is all about bravery and courage, right? That’s just _ not me. _It's overwhelming! I hate it." 

It was… a lot to unpack. Ben had obviously been holding this in, and it was all spilling out at once.

"It's terrifying for everyone," Evie said slowly after a moment’s hesitation, "I come from a magical family but even I'm overwhelmed with all the new things here." 

"But you're not _ scared _," Ben mumbled. 

"Rubbish, I'm awful at Charms. I'm always scared of messing things up there and having things blow up in my face," Evie said, waving a hand dismissively, in an attempt to cheer Ben up. She wasn’t scared of magic itself, or the environment of the school, but she had a feeling bringing it up would put a damper on Ben’s mood.

Fortunately, he perked up a bit.

"Everyone's already so used to all this though," he then deflated quickly, shoulders slumping. "You're used to magic, you probably practiced loads at home…" 

Evie winced. "Well, not... exactly. My mother didn't let me practice magic." 

This made Ben stop, surprise written on his features. Apparently, this also transferred to Rowan, who mirrored Ben, eyebrows up high on her forehead and eyes wide behind her glasses. Perhaps revealing this was a mistake, Evie thought, as she shrank under their shocked and now questioning expressions. 

"Really?" Rowan breathed, leaning forward. 

"Er, yeah?" Evie shifted uncomfortably, and continued walking, forcing Ben and Rowan to follow. They were definitely late for Charms now. The corridors were clearing out, and only a few people remained. She quickened her pace.

"It's not too odd," she finally huffed in irritation, when Ben and Rowan exchanged a glance of mutual surprise at the news. Ben's reaction was completed expected, but Rowan's on the other hand…

"You never told me that! It's awfully odd for someone with magical parents to _ not _ have used magic before coming to Hogwarts!" Rowan protested. 

"It never came up. Besides, others have had parents be strict with their magic at home too," Evie argued. 

"Yeah, strict with it, not forbid it!" 

"Ugh." Evie rubbed at her temples. "Not my point. The point is, even I didn't use magic at home, magical parents or not, so of course all of this is new to me, and I'm just as behind in learning magic as every muggle-born student here." 

Ben took the information in, biting his lip. 

"The word you told me not to say," he began, brown eyes meeting Evie's, "was it… bad? Is that what wizards call people who aren't good at magic? It didn't sound very nice." 

Evie flinched, the same time as Rowan. 

"It's an awful word," Rowan said. "Only the worst of the worst say it, who think they're the best of all wizards, especially… wizards who aren't from fully magical families." She looked uncomfortable towards the end of her sentence. 

Ben was horrified. "It's for… people like me? For people who don't have magic parents? Telling us we have… what, muddy blood?" Then, it dawned on him. He looked distraught.

"It's not something anyone should call anyone," Evie interjected quickly, hoping to deflect the damage, then, looked Ben the eye. "You aren't dirty, Ben, and you shouldn't believe what Merula says. You're doing your best here, and you're braver than you know. Don't let Merula's words bring you down, as far as I'm concerned, they're rubbish. Alright?" 

He was quiet for a moment. Evie was almost convinced he was going to cry, when his eyes began to glisten and she immediately stiffened, unsure of what to do. Then, he sniffed, and rubbed at his eyes.

"... T-thank you," Ben managed, running his hand through his hair, light strands being pulled away from his face. The smile he gave was still uncertain, watery even, but grateful nonetheless. "You’re, um, really nice? You didn’t have to be…” He turned to Rowan. “Thank you, too. For standing up for me back there, and for this, I guess. You didn't have to either… but you did, and I'm glad we're friends?" 

It was a question. 

Rowan quickly accepted, nodding eagerly, long, dark hair bouncing behind her. Evie then smiled, and stuck out her hand, which Ben took gently, happily, and a grin began spreading across his face, from ear to ear. 

"Of course," Evie agreed, and unable to help herself, added, "what are friends for?”

"Not for encouraging tardiness, I hope?" Flitwick's voice piped up, and all three children jumped and turned to look at him. Flitwick was standing at the entrance, arms crossed, but he didn't look particularly mad, mostly amused, just a hint of a smile on his face. It was fortunate they were all rather good students, behavior-wise or academically, so Flitwick was much more lenient on them. 

Still, he was right. 

They giggled a bit, following Flitwick inside the classroom, feeling silly at being startled, giddy from the newfound friendship.

The lesson for the day was over the spell _ Incendio, _the Fire-Making Charm. After Evie, Rowan, and Ben got settled in their seats, Ben taking his place with the Gryffindors after some hesitation, Flitwick began his lecture.

“Remember the wave movement!” Flitwick chirped from his perch on his tower of books, after his lecture concluded and he began to encourage students to use the rest of the class time to practice the spell. “This is a dangerous spell and I don’t want to have to send any student to Madam Pomfrey! Clear incantations, fluid wrist movement! The incantation is _ Incendio. _Go on, give it a try!”

The classroom began to fill with murmurs and heat, as spell attempts failed but produced enough spark to generate heat with so many students trying to charm at once. They had each been given a small piece of wood to light on fire, and Evie frowned down at her wand in her hand, reluctant to try. 

She wasn’t lying when she told Ben that charms never came easily to her, and the memory of her pulling of a _ Lumos Maxima _ just days ago taunted her. Sure, it managed to work out in the end, but it was adrenaline that powered the spell. Not her own power, she knew that much. She could feel how the spell had drained her after, how small her magical reserve was. 

Had she not been fueled by adrenaline, had she not been lucky, she and Rowan would have been in real danger. 

More of a reason to practice, Evie thought wryly, grimacing as she raised her wand. 

Beside her, Rowan managed to successfully cast _ Incendio. _A burst of flames came out from her wand tip and quickly lit up the piece of wood in front of her, causing everyone within her range to jump back in surprise at the fire. Evie stared, mouth slightly open, and Rowan was practically beaming with pride. 

"Brilliant, Miss Khanna!" Flitwick called over the noise of excited whispers amongst the Hufflepuffs. "Perfect technique, twenty points to Hufflepuff!" 

He cast an _ Aguamenti _ at the flames, and the fire died. The Hufflepuffs gave quiet cheers, delighted at the amount of points awarded, and Rowan preened, evidently pleased with herself.

Evie's mouth set in a firm line. She really didn't have it in her, not like Rowan, but she had to try. With everyone resuming their own practice, Evie followed suit, and focused her attention on the wood in front of her. 

"_ Incendi -" _

_ “Evie…” _

“Oh!” The spell came out of her wand with a crackle and burst of flames, and Evie quickly dropped her wand, cursing. Heads turned to her, and she felt her face grow hot. 

“All right there, Miss Salazar?” Flitwick asked, peering over at her. Across the room, the Gryffindors stared, Ben among them. 

“Fine,” Evie forced out. Flitwick nodded, and returned his attention to a struggling Gryffindor student. 

Evie shot Rowan a frustrated look. “You nearly made me set fire to the classroom!” she hissed. “What do you want?” 

Rowan furrowed her brow at her.

“What?"

“You called my name! Don’t startle me like that. Especially when I’m about to cast a _ fire spell. _”

This made Rowan frown. “Er, I didn’t call you though. I didn’t say your name.”

Evie inhaled sharply. She knew she was being snappy, but the sparks had scared her a bit. The flames could have easily gone out of her control. She mentally cursed her weak magic, and shook her head, shaking off her unsettled feeling. “...Okay. Alright, sorry. I just... “ she gave the classroom a sweeping look. “I thought I heard someone call for me. Scared the daylights out of me.”

Then, it happened again. As soon as the words left her lips, Evie’s vision went a brilliant white, and for a moment, she was in a different room, cold and encased in ice, a misty frost shrouding a staircase. 

_ “The ice is here. The vault will open.” _A voice echoed, low and eerie.

In front of her, a looming suit of armor, and it began to walk towards her, and a cold fear seized Evie’s heart. Ice began to spread at an alarming rate, and she felt the temperature drop around her, chilling her to the bone, the cold harsh and brittle. Frost began to creep on her skin and everything around, covering everything in solid, freezing ice -

“Evie! Are you alright?!” Rowan was urgently whispering, and her hand was on her arm firmly. The touch brought Evie out of her vision and she reeled, quickly reaching up to clutch at her head.

She forced herself to still her breathing. Her heart was at her throat, beating fast, and Evie inhaled shakily.

“I - did anyone see?”

Rowan removed her hand. “What? I thought you were going to faint!”

“Did they?!”

“...No, they’re all busy practicing.”

Good. Evie took in a deep breath. She had no idea what had just happened, but she knew it was something she didn’t want people to ask about. Trembling hands were brought down, and she deliberately made sure to pick up her wand as steadily as she could. _ Must have dropped it during… what was that? A vision? _Evie couldn’t help but feel it wasn’t just her imagination gone wild.

“The vault will open,” the voice had said. Why was that familiar? Why -

Evie froze. The Cursed Vaults? 

_ Jacob’s _Cursed Vaults?

Evie felt her blood go cold.

“_ Incendio,” _Evie breathed, and the wood in front her burst into flames. A brief feeling of satisfaction washed over her as she gazed into the flickering orange and yellows of the conjured fire, but she knew it was only possible because adrenaline still coursed through her. She placed her wand down, but noticed the shaking of her hands had returned. She couldn’t shake off the feeling of the ice.

“Rowan…” Evie said, “remember how you asked if I wanted to talk about my brother? I changed my mind.”

“... After today’s lessons?”

“Yeah.”

“...Sounds good. I’ve got the perfect place in mind to talk.”

**Author's Note:**

> My hogwarts mystery tumblr is [here!](https://goldhexes.tumblr.com/)


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